Christians have long tried to predict the mysterious event known as the Rapture — a sudden moment when believers are taken up to heaven, leaving the world behind. And according to at least some Christians, this event is happening today on Sept. 23 — or possibly tomorrow.
The latest stir about the Rapture was sparked by a South African pastor, Joshua Mhlakela, who predicted in an interview that the Rapture — which is related to the teaching of the Second Coming of Jesus — will take place either Tuesday, Sept. 23, or Wednesday, Sept. 24. These days are religiously significant and coincide with the beginning of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
What is the Rapture?
The Rapture is a belief held by many evangelical Christians that, at some point in the future, faithful believers in Jesus Christ, both alive and dead, will be suddenly taken up, or “raptured,” from Earth to meet Jesus in the air.
According to this teaching, those who are “saved” will be gathered into heaven, while others will be left behind to endure suffering, tribulation and chaos before the final return of Christ.
The believers who had died already at the moment of the Rapture will experience the resurrection of their bodies.
The belief comes from interpretations of passages in the New Testament, where 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 describes believers being “caught up” to meet the Lord.
Not all Christian traditions believe in the doctrine of the Rapture. Catholic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant, for instance, emphasize the eventual return of Christ, when the dead will be raised. These groups often caution against predicting exact timelines, and point to Jesus’ own words that “that day and hour knoweth no man.”
A belief in the Rapture is particularly central in certain Protestant circles influenced by 19th- and 20th-century premillennial and dispensational theology.
Previous predictions of raptures
In an interview with Centtwinz TV, an online channel, Mhlakela said he had a dream, in which he saw Jesus sitting on a throne.
“I would hear him very loud and clear: ‘I am coming soon,’” he said.
Jesus told him, he said, that on Sept. 23 and 24, he would come “to take my church.”
It’s not the first time that people have predicted the Rapture.
The California radio preacher Harold Camping predicted the Rapture would happen in 1994, and then later set dates for May 21, 2011, as the beginning of judgment and Oct. 21, 2011, as the world’s end.
When the predictions failed, Camping admitted that he made “a mistake.”
“We humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing,” Camping’s statement read in 2011. “We tremble before God as we humbly ask Him for forgiveness for making that sinful statement.”
The prophecy by Mhlakela sparked a #RaptureTok trend on TikTok that’s been brimming with advice, goodbyes and last-minute calls to turn to faith.
What do Latter-day Saints believe about the Rapture?
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not typically use the word “rapture,” but instead focus the teachings on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Latter-day Saints believe that the return of Jesus will initiate the beginning of the Millennium — a period of 1,000 years during which Jesus will reign on the earth.
Unlike the believers of the Rapture, Latter-day Saints do not believe in the sudden removal of believers while the rest of the world is left behind.
Latter-day Saints also emphasize signs that will precede the Second Coming, such as wars, natural disasters, widespread wickedness and the preaching of the gospel teachings across the world.